Service platform with configurable electricity usage characteristics

Abstract

A multi-tenant service platform provides network services, such as content delivery, edge compute, and/or media streaming, on behalf of, or directly for, a given tenant. The service platform offers a policy layer enabling each tenant to specify levels of acceptable performance degradation that the platform may incur so that the platform can use electricity with desirable characteristics to service client requests associated with that tenant. Service nodes in the platform (e.g., edge servers) enforce the policy layer at the time of a service request. Preferably, the ‘quality’ of the electricity is a measurement of source of the energy, e.g., whether it is sourced from high-carbon fossil fuels (low-quality) or low-carbon renewables (high-quality). If the desired quality of electricity cannot be achieved, the node can resort to using less electricity to handle the request, which is achieved in a variety of ways.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. In a multi-tenant service platform having a plurality of computer network nodes, a method of providing one or more services from the service platform, the method comprising:
 A. enabling a tenant of the multi-tenant service platform to specify an acceptable performance degradation value (APD) for a service in association with a desired quality of electricity (DQ) for the electricity consumed to provide the service, wherein quality (Q) of electricity is a function of how electricity was produced; 
 B. at a node in the multi-tenant service platform, receiving a request for the service from a client; 
 C. determining the APD and DQ applicable to the request for the service; 
 D. determining whether the request can be transferred to another node in the multi-tenant service platform with Q>=DQ without degrading the service beyond APD; 
 E. upon a determination that the request cannot be so transferred, consulting a configuration for the tenant that specifies one or more actions to take to reduce power use at the node; and, 
 F. taking at least one of the one or more actions. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , the one or more actions comprising one or more expendable service features. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , the one or more actions comprising at least one of:
 (i) ignoring or denying the request, 
 (ii) override an application of a service feature otherwise applicable, 
 (iii) override an invocation of a side effect of a service otherwise applicable, the side effect comprising any of logging, reporting, and performance monitoring, 
 and, 
 (iv) provide any of a stale and an alternate version of content to the client. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determination of the applicable APD and DQ is based at least in part on a device type of the client. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the quality (Q) of electricity is a a function of day or time at which the request for the service is received. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more actions is associated with known reduction in power usage, which the node logs in association with the request. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the APD indicates an acceptable latency. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the APD is a time value that varies across segments of a given multimedia stream. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein Q reflects a carbon cost of producing the electricity. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the APD is a function of day or time and said determination of the APD applicable to request comprises determining the APD at the day or time of the request. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more actions comprises:
 (i) ignoring or denying the request. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more actions comprises:
 (ii) override the application of a service feature otherwise applicable in accord with a service configuration controlled by the tenant. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more actions comprises:
 (iii) override an invocation of a side effect of a service otherwise applicable, the side effect comprising any of logging, reporting, and performance monitoring. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more actions comprises:
 (iv) provide any of a stale and an alternate version of content to the client. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1 , wherein any of APD and DQ is dependent on a supporting service required to handle the request. 
     
     
       16. A multi-tenant service platform having a plurality of computer network nodes that provide one or more services from the service platform, each of the plurality of computer network nodes comprising at least one hardware processor and memory storing computer program instructions for execution on the at least one hardware processor to operate the respective computer network node, the service platform comprising:
 A. a user interface enabling a tenant of the multi-tenant service platform to specify an acceptable performance degradation value (APD) for a service in association with a desired quality of electricity (DQ) for the electricity consumed to provide the service, wherein quality (Q) of electricity is a function of how electricity was produced; 
 B. a node in the multi-tenant service platform that receives a request for the service from a client, and in response, operable to:
 determine the APD and DQ applicable to the request for the service, where APD and DQ are based on one or more attributes of the request; 
 determine whether the request can be transferred to another node in the multi-tenant service platform with Q>=DQ without degrading the service beyond APD; 
 upon a determination that the request cannot be so transferred, consult a configuration for the tenant that specifies one or more actions to take to reduce power use at the node; and, 
 take at least one of the one or more actions. 
 
 
     
     
       17. A non-transitory computer readable medium holding program instructions for execution on one or more hardware processors, the program instructions comprising instructions to:
 A. enable a tenant of a multi-tenant service platform to specify an acceptable performance degradation value (APD) for a service in association with a desired quality of electricity (DQ) for the electricity consumed to provide the service, wherein quality (Q) of electricity is a function of how electricity was produced; 
 B. at a node in the multi-tenant service platform, receive a request for the service from a client; 
 C. determine the APD and DQ applicable to the request for the service, where APD and DQ are based on one or more attributes of the request; 
 D. determine whether the request can be transferred to another node in the multi-tenant service platform with Q>=DQ without degrading the service beyond APD; 
 E. upon a determination that the request cannot be so transferred, consult a configuration for the tenant that specifies one or more actions to take to reduce power use at the node; and, 
 F. take at least one of the one or more actions.